1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to apparatus and method for disposal of waste material and in particular to the use of fly larvae for the disposal of putrescent waste material.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
The production of organic compost for municipal refuse or garbage is well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,486 teaches a method for the production of organic compost comprising the following steps:
1. shredding the refuse; PA1 2. adding water to saturation; PA1 3. adding earthworms; PA1 4. keeping the water content at more than 80% during at least 30 days; PA1 5. keeping the mixture at a temperature from 0-54.degree. C. and with a moisture of at least 45% during more than 4 months. PA1 a conveyor belt consisting of at least a waste reception zone, a waste treatment zone, and a waste evacuation zone; PA1 a means to distribute the waste more or less evenly onto the conveyor belt; PA1 a means of depositing fly larvae or fly larvae eggs onto the waste; PA1 a means for removing fly larvae from the waste and from the conveyor belt; PA1 a means for removing the waste residue from the conveyor belt. PA1 discharging and more or less evenly distributing putrescent waste onto a conveyor belt; PA1 depositing fly larvae eggs or fly larvae onto the waste; PA1 ensuring the hatching of the eggs; PA1 ensuring a minimum residence time of the larvae in the waste so that substantially all of the waste is eaten and so that the majority of the fly larvae reach maturation; PA1 exposing a part of the waste to light and/or heat in such a way that the larvae crawl out of the waste and off at least one lateral edge of the conveyor belt; and PA1 removing the waste from the conveyor belt.
Such a method is not suitable for continuous treatment of large amounts of putrescent waste. Furthermore, the separation of earthworms from the treated waste materials is very difficult.
This invention relates to a device and method for the continuous treatment of large amounts of humid putrescent waste materials by means of fly larvae, so that after a relatively short period of a few days, the waste is converted into a more or less dry and odor-free compost. After treatment of the waste materials, the invention also foresees the easy separation of the larvae from the waste. Live or dehydrated larvae constitute an excellent feed stock for fish and poultry, but the larvae can also be used for the production of by-products such as protein meal, chitin, and chitosan. It has been observed that when using fly larvae for the treatment of putrescent waste materials, it is possible to induce them to crawl out of the waste by exposing the waste to an illumination, preferably together with a heating, especially an infrared illumination, whereby the separation of the larvae out of the putrescent waste is obtained by the larvae themselves.